Yu-Gi-Oh! Our Souls: Story of the People
by SkyArcadia
Summary: A young woman from the countryside moves to Tokyo to begin her new life. No sooner than she arrives, however, that she gets pulled into the hectic ways of life at the city. With a series of kidnappings, the appearances of a masked woman, a man wearing old-fashioned clothes, and a rumored conspiracy, dark secrets begins to emerge…
1. Prologue: Sides of a Coin

**Author's Note: And so here it is. The remake of Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL: Our Souls. I would appreciate feedback so I know what you guys think and improve on this story, mainly the mystery aspect when it comes up time and time again.**

**And so, enjoy and review…**

* * *

Yu-Gi-Oh! Our Souls: Story of the People

Prologue: Sides of a Coin – Heads and Tails

* * *

**Three Years Ago**

"You're the culprit."

The accusation sent off a series of reactions among the people at the crime scene.

It was like some sort of detective story. A murder had taken place inside a mall at an empty section of a clothing store. The security camera, unfortunately, was being repaired.

The victim was a teacher named **Hidetoshi Honda**. The victim was found lying face-up with a knife stuck to his chest. There were signs of a struggle in the area; mainly clothing that was strewn around.

The most noticeable detail about the struggle, however, was that there were shards of a glass bottle around the victim's body, although there were no cuts or bruises that suggested that he got hit by it. There were also stains on the carpet near the victim's body, but there was a larger one a few feet away from him.

The mall was under lockdown minutes after the body was found. Those that were near the scene of the crime and those that were suspicious were taken to the scene by the police.

Of the people pulled into the scene, one of them was the "suspicious type". He was a brute-looking man carrying a black bag with one hand and the other resting in his pocket.

In the man's bag was alcohol. All of them were recently bought, but one of them was almost empty.

The bottles that contained the alcohol were the same as the one found smashed in the crime scene, with the name of it found by an officer checking the scattered glass.

About a minute ago before the accusation was made, the man made himself even more suspicious when officers took notice of the bag.

"It's a freaking coincidence!" the man roared at an aging police officer. "Anyone else could've bought the same kind of drinks as me! It's all just a coincidence!"

Behind the aging officer was a female one. Her eyes darkened at the brute-looking man's shouting and attempted to step toward the two. The aging officer, however, raised a hand to stop her and responded to the man.

"Please, sir," the old officer said. "We are merely questioning the contents of your bag."

But the man didn't calm down. In fact, he looked even angrier. Despite that, however, the old officer didn't budge an inch.

"…Tch," the brute-looking man snapped. "Even so, why the hell would this murderer bash that guy's head in instead of stabbing him? Wouldn't the knife be easier?"

"Not if you're trying to hide a bloody knife," a new voice spoke.

The two men turned toward the sound of the voice. A man and a woman were walking away from the corpse. Both of them were wearing normal clothing, but had gloves on.

"What the…?" the man muttered. "Hey, they aren't police officers, too, are they?"

"John, Asuka," the aging officer greeted the two. "I thought you two were on your day offs. Why are you here?"

"To spend that day off with our daughter, Officer Yamamoto," the man named John explained.

"Such a shame that _this _happened," the woman named Asuka sighed as she turned to look at the victim's body.

"But anyway, about what you said," John began as he turned to the man. "A bloody knife would be difficult to hide, especially if the murderer got some on their shirt. But a bottle on the other hand…"

"…The glass that the shattered bottle was made from is thick enough to prevent itself from breaking upon impact," Asuka added. "I've bought plenty of these before. Had my fair share of accidents with them. None of them broke unless a _lot _of force is used."

"Well…what're you saying?" the man asked.

"What I'm saying is that the murderer could've used the bottle to smash the victim's head hard enough to kill him, but not enough to break it."

"B…but if that happened, then the bottle would have blood on it," the man argued. "It would be the same as a knife, then…"

"Which is why you would use something to disguise it," Asuka said. "If blood is dark red, then what would you use to hide it? Something that is darker than it, or at least have the bottle color dark enough to hide any traces of blood. And if I'm pretty sure that the shards are dark red…"

'_!' _the man's eyes widened as he eyed his bag, which was black.

"H – hold on, now…" the man said with an uneasy tone. "T – then how would it explain why there's shards lying everywhere? The bottle won't break easily without using a lot of force, right?"

"Yes, but like you said, unless you use a lot of force," John said. "Take a look at the scene. There are obvious signs of a struggle that happened, but despite that, the only wound that was inflicted on him was the stab wound that killed him. Think about it. With the signs of the struggle here, why do you think the culprit failed to kill the victim and the bottle smashed as the result?"

There was a brief moment of silence. But seconds later, the aging office spoke.

"The victim noticed the murderer," he said. "Upon realizing that he was about to be attacked, a struggled occurred between Mr. Honda and the culprit. As for the culprit himself, he must have panicked upon being found out. In an act of desperation, he took a wild swing…"

"…And the bottle missed him and broke upon impact with the ground, explaining the stains that were near him," John concluded. "The original plan for the culprit was to lure Mr. Honda to an empty section of this store, where he would kill him with the bottle. After the deed is done, he would hide it in a bag that has a color dark enough to hide the fresh blood stain on it and leave."

"W…wait…"

"Which is why I think…" John continued as he slowly raised a pointed finger…

…At the brute-looking man.

"You're the culprit."

"…"

While the other people at the scene responded to the accusation with gasps and startled looks, the man's reaction was oddly calm, if not bewildered and silent.

Of course, seconds later, he exploded.

"BULLSHIT! ALL OF IT!" he screamed. "You're tellin' me that your proof that I'm the murderer was a black bag!? Are ya shittin' me!? It's all just a coincidence! Ya got any more evidence? Huh!?"

The man's sudden outburst caused the people around him to step back in alarm, but the other officers cautiously began approaching him, though he didn't seemed to notice.

"And besides, ya got a contradiction to your story! If that bottle got smashed an' the liquid spilled, then why was there a stain several feet away from that guy?"

The man made a gesture with the hand that was carrying the bag at a large stain several feet away from the victim's body and the glass shards and stains.

"…Mind if I add something?" a female voice asked.

The female officer that tried to get in between the aging old man and the brute man spoke.

"Perhaps it's something vital to what's happening right now," the female officer explained, "but when I looked at the victim's body, I noticed that he was holding onto a glass shard."

She held out a plastic bag. Inside was a jagged glass shard with a somewhat noticeable amount of blood on it.

"Like what the others said," she began, "since the only injury the victim had was that stab wound, which means that the blood might belong to the culprit."

"H – ha! See!?" the man sneered. "With that much blood, the culprit's gotta be limping! That means there's no way it's me!"

"…No…there's something else," the aging officer said as he looked at the man. "One of the bottles that you have is almost empty, correct?"

The man hissed. "Aw, what is it now?"

"Is it, or not?"

"It is, but what's that got to do with – "

"…So it means that you've drank it, correct?"

"What?"

"My father has a point," the female officer said as she stepped next to the aging man. "Now that I think about it, when you were shouting and screaming, I could smell alcohol on your breath, but with that much alcohol gone, I would've smelled more."

"Gh…!" the man grunted as he flinched.

"And I've taken notice to the fact that your hand has never left your pocket," she continued. "Alcohol can numb pain as well as being able to disinfect a wound if you pour it on it, although it would sting."

"Gh…ghhh…!" the man couldn't respond to the officer's comment other than making a strange sound.

"Looks like new proof has shown up," Asuka said. "Guess that solves why there was a stain away from the shattered glass, huh, **Maromus Waru**?"

"Maromus Waru?" the aged officer asked. "Do you know him?"

"No, but I heard…"rumors" about him. I heard that about a week ago, his son, who was in Mr. Honda's class, got suspended by him."

"So, if that's the case, then there's our motive," the female officer muttered. "But why here? Why not at his home?"

"That would be too obvious," John said. "Waru probably knew that the police would suspect him if he had murdered Honda at his home, so he choose the place that would disguise himself among the crowd…here, this mall. Of course, we don't exactly know how Waru led him to here, but I would guess that he somehow persuaded him to come here to discuss about his son's suspension."

"So now let's go back to everything that's happened," Asuka began.

"First up, Waru persuaded Mr. Honda to come to this mall to discuss about his son…"

"Upon arriving at the mall, Waru purchased the alcohol bottles with a black bag. While it may seem that he was buying them for a drink, in truth, he was planning on using one of them as the murder weapon."

"Then, Waru met up with Honda and most likely began leading him around the mall, trying to find a place to kill him in. That place would turn out to be this empty section of the large clothing store, with no people or a security camera around."

"With no one around, Waru acted out his plan. Counting on the fact that the bottle wouldn't be smashed to pieces upon bashing Mr. Honda in the head, he would hide the bottle among the others in the black bag and leave."

"…Unfortunately for him, that didn't go as planned. Mr. Honda noticed him and attempted to fight back. Waru panicked and hurried to try and kill him…"

"…But he missed, and the bottle ended up getting smashed on the ground. Mr. Honda grabbed a glass shard and attacked Waru with it, which ended up stabbing him through the hand."

"But despite that, in the end, Waru was forced to use his knife to kill Mr. Honda. While reeling in pain, Waru drank some of the alcohol from his bag to numb the pain that he felt and poured most of it onto the wound. As for bandaging it up, you can substitute it with cloth found in this store. But since walking around with something like that would be too suspicious, he had to hide the wound by keeping his hand in his pocket…"

"…This sums about everything. Now, you got anything to say, or in this case…show?"

"Gh…gaaaaaaaaah…"

The only sounds that were coming out of Waru were raspy gasp-like noises. He was simply standing on the spot, not moving except for opening and closing his mouth as if trying to find words.

"…It seems that's it," the aging officer said. "Now, please…"

But as the officers took a step toward him, Waru suddenly seemed to have regained his thoughts. His shocked face with his raspy gasps quickly changed to rage as he bellowed.

"NO!"

The other people at the scene screamed as the man suddenly seized one of the bottles from the bag and charged through the officers.

Right toward John and Asuka.

* * *

**Present Day**

"_I think I just discovered something big. I'm sending you the info now. Will contact you more if I find anything else."_

That was the last e-mail the young reporter sent to his friend.

He knew the risks and dangers he was facing as he wandered through the halls of the empty building. At best, he would be arrested for trespassing, but at worse…

He would be killed.

But he knew that what he was about to do was more important. The truth had to come out…

The young reporter stepped into a dark room lined with rows of computers. Checking to see if the room was cleared, he hurried toward one of the computers and activated it.

As soon as it was on, he inserted a silver flash drive into it and furiously typed on the keyboard. Images and words flashed on the screen. He didn't bother to read it, however. To him, this was extra information that he needed to recover.

But he was so focused on his task that he didn't hear the dull footsteps approaching him.

"This has to come out…" the young reporter muttered. "This conspiracy…"Constellation Stars", whatever this…"Barian" is…the truth has to come out…"

"…So what has to come out?" a cold voice spoke right behind the young reporter.

"Gah…!"

The young reporter immediately seized the flash drive from his computer and turned around.

A flash blinded him and he felt sharp pain at his arm as he was pushed back.

Smoke escaped from the muzzle of the attacker's gun as he leered at the reporter.

"Eh? Oh, it's you again."

The young reporter winced in pain as he gripped the wound on his shoulder. His vision became somewhat fuzzy due to it, but could still make out what the attacker looked like.

The attacker was a muscular man with somewhat tanned skin. His clothing was completely black and somewhat ragged.

If it weren't for the fact that the young reporter had seen him before, he would've mistaken the attacker as some sort of criminal.

"What was it, just about a week ago?" the attacker asked. "I thought that beating we gave you was enough to tell you that we don't like brats snooping around. You remembered what we said about what would happen to you if we catch you here again…right?"

With a cruel smile, the attacker slowly raised the gun at the young reporter.

The young reporter seized that moment to jump at him before he could fire.

* * *

About an hour later back at the computer room, several men got rid of any signs of a fight. The young reporter's body was stuffed inside a suitcase and taken away.

What killed the reporter wasn't a gunshot or being beaten to death. It was a single stab wound right through his chest.

"Disgusting…making me do this…"

Among the people inside the computer room was a masked woman, wiping away the blood on the katana she had.

"What is?" the dark-clothed man asked as he sat on one of the tables in the room. "The blood or the little bastard? Although they're both the same thing, ha ha…"

"…"

The masked woman gripped the cloth used to clean the blade, which was already soaked in red.

"Of course, there are probably tons of even slimier guys running about in Tokyo. But that's where you come in. You'll just make them disappear…"

"…But this?" the masked woman asked in a hushed tone. "A young boy like him? Not some criminal or corrupted politician like that in stories?"

"But if he would steal away info from this building, that would make him a criminal, right?" the black-clothed man leered. "Besides, why should you care about a fool you don't know? Don't you have someone else you should worry about?"

The masked woman flinched. Despite her face was hidden, the man knew what her expression was.

He chuckled. "Don't worry. If you keep working for us, we'll see to it that your brother is alright."

"I see…" the masked woman muttered as she pocketed the cloth. "…If that's all, then I'll leave…"

Without waiting for the man to respond, the masked woman left the room and into an empty hallway.

And in that empty hallway, she pulled out a note with neat handwriting on it. The message written in it was somewhat long, but she only the ending.

"…_After you do this, meet me in Tokyo Tower."_

"_I'll help you find your brother."_

The note simply appeared in front of her a few days ago. The note didn't have a name to it, so she didn't know who the sender was. Any person's first instinct at such a message would be to throw it away and ignore it.

But the masked woman didn't.

Even if she didn't know who the sender was, she had a strange feeling that she should trust it.

For the sake of her brother, she had to do it.

It was the beginning of a story.

The beginning of a violent, chaotic story.


	2. Duo Up

**Author's Note: And so the first chapter (finally) begins. Sorry for the wait, but I'll try to to get more time working on this and the other story. But other than that, please read and review...**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Duo-Up**

* * *

**Year 2433**

**Tokyo, Front of Hajime-Owari Station**

There were more people than she had ever seen before at the train station.

But when she thought about it, she hadn't seen many people for a long time. It would be an overwhelming sight for anyone living like that, but to her, she was oddly calm.

Standing next to a sign was a teenage girl with long black hair with a large bag slung over her shoulder. She didn't stand out among the mass of people in the train station other than her somewhat noticeable lighter skin.

Of course, none of the people noticed as they continued on to their destinations, just like the young girl.

The teenager, **Akane Kuroyuki**, was holding a note in her hand as she looked around the area. In that note was a very simple message:

_Wait at the front of a large sign at Hajime-Owari Station. I'll pick you up at 14:00._

Akane was from the countryside, but she literally never left her home except for very rare occasions. That was one of the traditions for the Kuroyuki Family in Japan: the children, except for a few occasions, must live an isolated life until the age of fifteen.

The home that Akane stayed in was an ancient structure owned by her family for generations. It consisted of two buildings: a regular home out at front, built several decades ago, but kept in good condition, and a giant dojo at the back, surrounded by tall fences. While the house could fit a regular family inside, the dojo could fit possibly more than a hundred and there would still be plenty of room left.

But it was only occupied by her and her caretaker after her parents died a few years ago.

Now at the age of fifteen, Akane could have chosen a high school at the countryside, but instead got accepted into one in Tokyo. Luckily for her, a friend of her late parents agreed to look after her upon arriving.

And all she needed to do know was to wait for him.

Which only lasted a few more seconds.

"Akane! Over here!" an adult voice shouted among the crowd.

"…?"

A few feet in front of the girl was a man looking right at her. He was somewhere in his early forties, with curly black hair and wearing a sleeved white shirt and black pants.

The man's curly hair instantly told her who the man was. Even then, however, it took her a few moments to process who he was.

"Ah…you're…Mr. Nagise?"

The man grinned as he approached Akane. He was **Daisuke Nagise**, the friend of Akane's parents.

"Ah! You're Mr. Nagise, right?" Akane asked.

"Haha, yeah," he chuckled. "It's been a while, hasn't it? It's been three years, after all."

Mr. Nagise, along with Akane's parents, were police detectives. Based on what Akane knew, they were friends since high school.

"Well then, you're probably tired after your trip here," he said as he began leading Akane out of the crowds. "I already prepared a room for you when we get back to my place, alright?"

"…Actually, I'm not tired at all," Akane said as she followed him.

"Ha, well, you'll need your energy on Monday," Mr. Nagise responded. "After all, that's when school's starting, and you've had the comfort of home when you're being taught stuff."

He had a relaxed smile on his face as he said that.

Despite his job as a police detective, Daisuke Nagise was a fairly laid-back person when not on the job. Akane recalled various stories that her parents told about him, ranging from never cleaning up his apartment room to never bother leaving his home for one week.

"Still, it _is _odd that you would choose a school here rather than back at home," he said as the two continued walking. "Of course, your parents won't want me questioning you with this kind of stuff. Still, though, how's your trip to here?"

"It's good," Akane nodded. "Is there something wrong?"

"Nah. It's a bit surprising how easily you got here since you've barely went outside, never mind the fact that you've probably don't remember riding on a train since you were a kid."

"Oh? But I remembered," Akane said as she watched Mr. Nagise look at his watch. "All you have to do..."

"Oh damn..." Mr. Nagise suddenly murmured. "I forgot to pick up something..."

* * *

"Sorry about that, Akane, but I forgot to pick up something," Mr. Nagise said as both he and Akane left his car in front of a restaurant.

"It's going to take a while," he said as he began walking toward the door. "Why not take a look around here? Just don't wander too far from here!"

He vanished into the restaurant, leaving Akane by herself as she looked around the area before noticing an entrance to a park several feet away from her. There was a sign that said "Mannaka Park" and from where Akane stood, she heard the sounds of a crowd.

_'What's happening there?' _she wondered as she walked toward the park.

* * *

"Come on out!"

In the park was a crowd of people surrounding two teenagers, both of them facing each other a few feet back. Strapped to their arms were gauntlet-like objects with a platform attached to it.

On those platforms were cards, and in front of them were larger versions of what they had.

The two were playing a game of Duel Monsters. It was a card game that was created by a man named Maximillion J. Pegasus in the United States of America. Despite the game being created somewhere in the 1990s, it had survived and continued to thrive even today.

While the game of Duel Monsters started relatively normal, the game evolved to the point that it became a culture in various parts of the world.

The two duelists, players of Duel Monsters, were nearing the end of their game. One of the duelists was a boy with black hair, with a sneering face that made him look unpleasant.

The other duelist was an attractive girl. She was tall with red hair with a black flat cap and white skin. She wasn't dressed provocatively, but one would take notice to her somewhat large bust and her uncovered legs.

**Redheaded Girl**: 1200

**Black-haired Boy: **500

On the boy's field stood a looming giant that looked as though it was crafted from orange stone. Electricity was running through its body. Other than that, he didn't have any other cards on his field or in his hand.

But on the other hand, the redheaded girl only had two facedown cards on her field.

The black-haired boy smirked. "Let's see you beat The Creator (2300/3000)! If you can't, well, there goes the so-called internet celebrity!"

"Internet celebrity…?" Akane murmured.

But the redheaded girl simply grinned. "Oh, really?" she asked, prompting the boy to drop his smile. "Well – here goes!"

She drew, but instead of pondering on what to do, she placed the card into her hand and picked up another.

"I bringin' on out Symphony Avatar Moshroom (1000/0)!"

Rising out of the ground was a creature that resembled a giant mushroom. The difference was that there were eyes just below its cap. It had stubby legs, but the most noticeable feature was its extremely long arm that was tapping the ground in a rhythmic pattern.

"Ah?" the boy blinked. "What can that possibly do?"

"Plenty," the girl responded as she pressed a button on her Duel Disk. "I'm activating my Continuous Trap, Call of the Haunted!"

One of the girl's facedown cards flipped over as purple smoke emitted from the card's art.

"With this little card, I'm allowed to bring back one of my children from the realms of sleep," she explained. "…And with that, I'm special summoning Symphony Avatar Deathdoom Metal Dragon (2000/2000)!"

A loud roar came from the card as a shadowy blur rushed out. That blur was a large metallic black dragon that was swaying its head and tail wildly.

"And now…I'm going to attack!" she declared as she pointed at the giant called The Creator.

"What? You serious?" the boy asked. "As you know…"

"As you know," the girl interrupted. "The moment you guys mention that their monster has more attack points or any other variation, their opponent will do something that'll turn the tables – just like now!"

"When I attack with Moshroom, his effect activates," she explained. "By sending away Deathdoom Metal Dragon, he gives his attack power to him until the end of the turn!"

"W – what!?"

"Deathy has 2000 attack points, so that means Moshroom's power is now 3000!"

The mushroom creature's long arm coiled around the black dragon. The dragon, however, promptly turned its head and unleashed a stream of fire on it before it broke free of its grasp and flew away.

Instead of burning to ashes, the mushroom creature stood there with a blackened body. Moments later, it shook off the soot and jumped up and down furiously.

Symphony Avatar Moshroom: (3000/0)

"Now, get 'em!"

The mushroom creature swung its long arm around, stretching it even further. After a few seconds, it hurled its arm straight at The Creator's chest. The arm punched a hole through it and cracks began running down from the wound before the giant crumbled altogether.

"No!" the boy shouted. "NOOOOOO!"

**Redheaded Girl: *WINNER***

**Black-haired Boy: 0**

"Why…how!?" the boy wailed as he fell to his knees in defeat.

"Easy," the redheaded girl grinned as cheers surrounded her. "You shouldn't have challenged me on beating your monster. That's tempting fate, y'know?"

"She's certainly a spirited one, hmm?"

A soft female voice spoke behind Akane, who turned around. The speaker was a girl who looked older than her. She was dressed in a gothic lolita fashion, making her stick out among the crowd.

"Oh…hello…" Akane greeted, taken aback somewhat by the older girl's fashion. "Do you know her?"

"You might say that," the girl said in a pleasant tone as she gazed at the redheaded girl, who oddly enough, was dancing on the spot. "However, we haven't exactly talked for a very long time. But aside from that…"

The girl looked up and down Akane's body. Akane herself blinked in wonder. Between her and the older girl, the older girl looked more "special" compared to her.

"Ah…I haven't seen your face around here."

"Excuse me?"

"You see, I'm rather good at remembering the faces of people around here," the older girl explained. "That boy over there."

She pointed at the loser, who was stalking away.

"He will be a new student of Toki Academy in a few days. He leads a gang of delinquents, sometimes bullying others here in this square," she casually mentioned.

"Toki Academy?" Akane asked. "I'm going there as well."

"Ah, are you?" the older girl responded. "Toki Academy is close by here. I would've surely seen your face around these parts."

"I'm not around here," Akane said. "I moved here today."

"So that explains it," the older girl said. "Well, do be careful. Tokyo isn't a safe place recently."

"Oh?" Akane blinked. "What do you mean? Are there muggers? Are there gangs? Are there bullies?"

"Not exactly," she replied. "You may run into a few hoodlums every now and then, but during the day, Tokyo is a safe place."

"Of course, during night..."

She chuckled.

"Once a night, someone disappears."

* * *

**Several Days Ago**

"H…h…HEEEEEEEELP!"

The thug dropped his weapon and made a run for it. It was in a lonely parking lot at midnight.

The parking lot was rundown place through a lack of care and by punks vandalizing the property. It was also an isolated place, making it a perfect area for gang or criminal activity.

In the parking lot was a lone streetlight that shone down on a white truck.

The truck was surrounded by the dead bodies of criminals, and one side of the vehicle was splattered with blood.

Inside the truck was their victim. Not dead, but unconscious, waiting to be picked up by the group's employer. Despite the obvious risks, the thugs would be rewarded with a handsome sum of money. All of them were poor and needed that money to live.

They were manipulated, of course. These men were lowly punks barely getting by with what pitiful lives they had. They were chosen because they had almost nothing, and so if something were to go wrong, they would be left to their fates.

And their fates were already sealed.

On that night, while waiting for their employer, "it" appeared before them.

"Eh…? Who's that?"

One of the thugs turned his head. Through the light of the streetlight, he could see the silhouette of a figure dragging something behind it. The streetlight itself was the only source of light in the area. Making out the figure's gender from far away would be near impossible.

It was obvious that something was wrong. If the approaching figure really was the contractor, then it would have made a noise. Nonetheless, the men looked at each other uneasily and placed their hands in their pockets.

"Hey…who're you?" one of the men asked as the figure neared them.

The figure stopped just before it stepped into the light. After a few moments, it threw what it was dragging at them. As the light shone on the object, the men cried out in shock.

The object was a corpse. The body was that of a man in a suit, with various sword wounds and blood all over his body.

After a few seconds, the men looked from the body to the mysterious figure, who stepped into the light.

The figure was a woman based on its figure and long black hair. Other than that, however, they couldn't tell anything about it due to it wearing pitch-black clothing from head to toe. Her face was also hidden by a mask with patterns that resembled the back of a ladybug.

The woman was holding a katana, which was soaked in blood.

"Wh - who the hell are you!?" one of the men roared as he pulled out his knife and charged right at her.

It was already a suicidal thought to even pull a weapon against an opponent that was better equipped. Charging straight at her with a simple knife was an idiotic idea as the woman sidestepped from the man's attack and slashed her blade at him.

* * *

"What do you mean, "once a night, someone disappears"?" Akane asked.

"What do you think?" the girl asked as she wore a small smile.

_'Once a night, someone disappears...it can't be runaways, based on what she said, so...'_

"...Is it kidnappings?"

"Correct. A series of kidnappings began back in January," the girl explained. "Those that wandered alone at night. Those that lurk late night. Those that have nothing. Each night, at least one person disappears in this city."

"I see..."

Akane bit her lip. The only way of knowing what was going on outside her home was through the telivision in her home. Despite that, she had never heard of any troubles occuring in Tokyo.

"Well...do the police have any leads?" Akane asked.

"I do not know," the older girl simply said. "However, there _are _rumors on the street..."

"Rumors?"

"Yes. Do you know the phrase "the hunter becomes the hunted?""

* * *

The man's headless body crashed into the truck as blood spilled out from its open neck, splattering one side of the vehicle with it.

The three other men gave shouts of fright, but while one of them took a step back, the other two simply brandished their own weapons.

"You son of a bitch!" one of them shouted as the two rushed at the woman.

Both of the men were carrying iron pipes rather than knives with them. The fastest of the two reached the unmoving woman and swung his pipe.

The woman blocked the strike with her own weapon, but the second man quickly caught up. He gave a loud war cry as he raised the pipe over his head...

...And the war cry turned into a cry of pain as he suddenly dropped to his knees.

"Wha - !?" the first man, startled by his partner's pain, looked away from the masked woman to look at him.

He only noticed the army of black dots swarming the man before he felt pain at his stomach.

"...!"

The man couldn't make a sound. Seizing the moment of him being distracted, the woman knocked the pipe away from his hands and jabbed him in the stomach with the hilt of her katana.

The third man watched as the woman picked up the second man's pipe and struck him in the head with it.

He knew that he was done for as a loud crack echoed across the parking lot. The man's body flew up into the air before falling to the other side of the truck.

The masked woman looked at the second man and the third man knew that he was done for due to all the opened wounds and blood leaving his body.

In under a minute, three of the four were dead.

And the masked woman looked at the last one.

The last man's will to fight was already gone as he let out a scream.

"H...h...HEEEEEEEELP!"

The thug dropped his weapon and made a run for it. No sooner than a few seconds later, the man fell to the ground as a heavy object hit his legs.

As the man hit the ground, he saw one of the iron pipes rolling away from him.

"Gah...no...!"

The man heard the sounds of footsteps approaching him and his eyes widened.

_'I'm dead. I'm going to die. S - shit! I don't wanna die!'_

The only way that he could escape was through his last weapon in his pocket. He continued to pretend to struggle facedown as he begged for his life.

"Pl - please! I won't do anymore bad things, I swear!"

But the masked woman didn't say anything as she continued to approach him, leaving him to one conclusion.

_'That...that thing really is going to kill me!'_

"N...NO!"

Sensing the presence of the woman right above him, he attacked. He quickly drew out the weapon in his pocket, pressed it against the woman, and pushed the button.

A loud sound escaped from the stun gun as the masked woman stumbled backward, clutching the spot where it touched her.

"A...AAAAAAARGH!"

The man yelled as he ran toward the woman and kicked her hand that was holding her katana. The blade was knocked away from her as the man hastily picked it up.

"Al...all I have to do...I need to get outta here...just leave me alone!" the man screamed as he raised the katana.

But the masked woman held out a hand toward the man. A second later, he felt nothing in his hands.

"...Huh?"

The man looked up and saw that the katana was starting to fade away into gray and black dust that fell around him.

But he noticed that the gray and black dust were circling around him as a buzzing sound filled his ears.

He then realized that they weren't dust as the buzzing grew louder and wounds began opening up just like the second man who collapsed.

* * *

"Dead bodies began turning up lately," she explained in a casual tone as if it wasn't eerie to her at all. "At first, people suspected that they were the remains of those that were kidnapped, but..."

"They must be the kidnappers," Akane finished. "You said that the phrase "the hunter becomes the hunted", which means that the kidnappers are being attacked by someone, correct?"

"Correct," the girl nodded. After that, however, she simply looked at Akane's face, tilting her head slightly.

And then...

"...You aren't fearful, are you?"

"...Eh?"

"Haha..." the girl laughed. "Your face is something I don't recognize. However, your expressions through our conversation - they don't show any signs of fear despite what I told you. You remind me of someone that I know a long time ago."

The girl laughed again.

"My name is **Akogare Kokoro**," the girl introduced as she held out her hand. "Welcome to Tokyo…"

The strange girl had an eerie smile on her face, but in some way, Akane felt that it was sincere.

"My name is Akane Kuroyuki," Akane said as she smiled back. "It's nice to meet you."

She took Akogare's hand and shook it. Despite how pale Akogare was, her hand was very warm.

And then...

_Black Death, Europe, Creinil_

_Safe from the plague, mysterious travelers  
_

_Nicholas Germain, Adam, Eve, and Lucy Abadd_

"Hmmhmmhmm..."

_God's Needle, The Healer_

_Troubles in town, the Baron and the Noblewoman_

_Evan and Isabella_

_Town created to seek out true hope, one that received hope, one that received ultimate despair_

_Charlotte_

_Weiss_

"Well then, Akane Kuroyuki. I must be going now. Until next time..."

With a small bow, Akogare left the crowd. Moments later, Mr. Nagise appeared in front of her with a bag at hand.

"Oh, there you are," he greeted as he looked around. "This your first time seeing someone playing Duel Monsters, Akane? I remembered your mom and dad playing when we were in high school. Never got into it, though."

He cleared his throat as he placed a hand on Akane's shoulder.

"So, ready to go back to my place?" he asked. "Don't worry. I made sure that I cleaned up the place...actually, did I check to..."

But Akane was not listening. Instead, she was recalling Akogare's words in her head.

_'A series of kidnappings, hmm?'_

She could barely hear Mr. Nagise's words as she looked around. Despite the ominousness of her words, everyone she saw seemed to be normal and happy.

The redheaded girl, who was skipping away.

A tall, dark-haired woman with a man around her age.

A group of girls, giggling about something.

A man who was holding the hands of two children.

And a boy in a suit, who was looking at her direction...

"...?"

...Was he looking at her direction, or _right at her_?

"...Hey, Akane. Are you alright?"

Mr. Nagise's words brought her back.

"Oh...nothing," she lied as she looked back at where the boy was.

He was not there.

Mr. Nagise yawned. "Well, you're probably tired from your trip. Speaking of which, I am, too. We'll rest up once we get back."

Akane nodded as she slowly followed him to the car, the thought of a stranger looking right at her still in her mind.

But once she got into the car, she got rid of that thought.

After all, she was simply going to high school and that was that. She was a simple normal girl, just like everyone in Tokyo.

...She was wrong. So very wrong and she was aware that she was lying.

* * *

**"There's always an opposite in this world. Something like light and darkness, left and right, Heaven and Hell...that always exist ever since the beginning of the world.**

**This counts to people as well. There will always be the useful and the useless. The innocent and the criminals. The royals and the peasants. The people who tell the truth and those who tell lies.**

**And there is you, Akane.**

**Tell me this. Is choosing a school in Tokyo truly innocent?**

**...**

**...I know you are lying.**

**Well then...how about another question?**

**...Do you believe that there is some type of God?"**

* * *

**Cards Used (Any cards made by me or others will be in Italics)**

**Black-haired Boy's Cards**

**The Creator**

LIGHT/Thunder/8/2300/3000

Cannot be Special Summoned from the Graveyard. Once per turn: You can target 1 monster in your Graveyard; send 1 card from your hand to the Graveyard, and if you do, Special Summon that target.

**Redheaded Girl's Cards**

_**Symphony Avatar Deathdoom Metal Dragon**_

DARK/Dragon/8/2000/2000

When this card is Tribute Summoned: Target 1 monster that was used to summon this card; This card gains that monster's ATK and DEF.

_**Symphony Avatar Moshroom**_

EARTH/Plant/4/1000/0

This card must attack if able to. When this card attacks: You can tribute 1 monster you control to have this card gain that monster's ATK until the End Phase. When this card destroys a monster by battle: This card gains 500 ATK.

**Call of the Haunted**

Continuous Trap

Activate this card by targeting 1 monster in your Graveyard; Special Summon that target in face-up Attack Position. When this card leaves the field, destroy that target. When that target is destroyed, destroy this card.

* * *

**Characters Introduced**

**Akane Kuroyuki**

Age: 15

Birthday: August 21

Occupation: None

**Akogare Kokoro**

Age: 18

Birthday: August 25

Occupation: Unknown

**Daisuke Nagise**

Age: 40

Birthday: January 2

Occupation: Police Detective

* * *

**What Comes Next...**

Akane's new life begins as she starts high school in Toki Academy. Already, new faces appear before her as she attracts the unwanted attention of a troublemaker. New friends and foes, it's all part of the roulette of fate. How will she deal with this troublemaker? Find out next time!


End file.
